Sato claims Indy 500

TAKUMA Sato became the first Japanese winner of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday when he denied Helio Castroneves a record-tying fourth victory as the two traded the lead in the closing laps. McLaren Formula One driver Fernando Alonso failed to finish, a blown engine terminating his race 20 laps shy of the end. The 35year-old Alonso led 27 laps in his much-hyped Indy 500 debut – the third most behind Max Chilton and Ryan Hunter-Reay. Meanwhile, New Zealand driver Scott Dixon walked away from a spectacular, flying crash, while Australian Will Power also failed to complete the race after being involved in a five-car crash.

Yellow on debut

SOCCEROOS defender Trent Sainsbury has been yellow carded in his debut for Inter Milan almost four months after signing for the Serie A giants. Sainsbury came on 71 minutes into the Nerazzurri’s 5-2 win over Udinese in their final match of the Italian season at Milan’s San Siro Stadium on Sunday. The 25-year-old replaced left-back Davide Santon with Inter leading 4-0, earning a yellow for an 83rd-minute foul as his side conceded twice while he was on the park.

Dutchman wins Giro

TOM Dumoulin won the 100th Giro d’Italia in dramatic fashion Sunday, reclaiming the overall lead in a final-stage individual time trial. It’s the first Grand Tour victory for the Dutchman and it sets him up as a potential rival for three-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome. Dumoulin entered the final stage in fourth position but finished far enough ahead of his rivals over the flat 29-kilometre route from Monza’s Formula One racetrack to Milan’s cathedral to move back into the lead. In the overall standings, Dumoulin finished 31 seconds ahead of 2014 champion Nairo Quintana of Colombia and 40 seconds ahead of last year’s winner, Vincenzo Nibali of Italy.

Ferrari back on top

CHAMPIONSHIP leader Sebastian Vettel has won his first Monaco Grand Prix for Ferrari, ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen with Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo third in his Red Bull. The result left Ricciardo smiling, a stark contrast to the way he was feeling on Saturday when his team sent him out for qualifying in traffic. “Yesterday I felt we had so much more to offer, ” Ricciardo said. “Today we proved it.” It was Vettel’s third win of the season and extends his lead in the standings over Lewis Hamilton to 25 points. It was the first time Ferrari had tasted victory in Monaco since Michael Schumacher won in 2001.